The number of children with rheumatic fever, New Zealand’s third world illness affecting mainly Māori and Pacific children, fell in 2015, suggesting the local Rheumatic Fever Prevention Programme is having an impact.

In 2015 there were three confirmed cases of rheumatic fever inTairāwhiti compared with 10 in 2014, and 7 in 2013. “The figures, while not statistically significant, are very encouraging,” says Chair of the Rheumatic Fever Steering Group, and Hauora Tairāwhiti’s Medical Officer of Health, Margot McLean.

“The figures suggest that the prevention programme alongside increased public awareness, and the hard work of our local nurses, general practitioners and community health workers, has started to take effect,” says Dr McLean.

The Rheumatic Fever Prevention Programme is a partnership between Turanga Health, Ngati Porou Hauora, Hauora Tairāwhiti, and primary care (medical centres). Rheumatic fever and sore throat education, as well as free sore throat swabbing services are available for the public in an effort to reduce the rate of acute rheumatic fever in Tairāwhiti.

As part of the campaign Turanga Health supported the implementation of rapid response sore throat clinics in Gisborne’s general practices, and in its own medical centre at Te Karaka. On the east coast, children with sore throats are managed by Ngati Porou Hauora general practitioners and nurses based at the local health clinics. Anyone with a child or young person aged 4-19 who has a sore throat can visit a practice for free and with no appointment needed. A nurse will take a throat swab and offer free antibiotics.

In Gisborne if a throat swab comes back positive for Group A Streptococcus (GAS) bacteria, which can lead to rheumatic fever, and where there is consent, the child is referred to Turanga Health’s Rheumatic Fever Prevention Programme. The child and family receive education and support from the programme’s kaiāwhina. This support service will be extended to the east coast later in the year and be provided by Ngati Porou Hauora.

Between May 2015 and February 2016, of the 5899 throat swabs taken across the district, exactly 1000 were found positive for GAS bacteria. In the same time period Turanga Health received 211 referrals to its Rheumatic Fever Prevention Programme for antibiotic education and support, and or a Healthy Home assessment.

Rheumatic fever is associated with cold and overcrowded housing. Because of this, children who have been hospitalised with rheumatic fever (as well as certain other infectious illnesses related to poor housing) are referred to the Healthy Homes programme. Housing-related interventions include referral to health and social agencies, installing insulation and ventilation, and design improvements to the house. The support given may be anything from curtains, draft stoppers (made by Vanessa Lowndes Centre clients), or in some cases help with transferring the family to more appropriate housing. Turanga Health’s Healthy Home kaiāwhina is currently working with 25 families.

One Gisborne mum to benefit from the Healthy Homes initiative, Faith Rihia, says she and her daughter are much happier, warmer, and healthier in their new home which they moved into late last year with help from Turanga Health.“It was stressful and I had no sleep,” remembers Faith from earlier demanding days when her 11-month-old baby girl had numerous chest, breathing, and throat conditions, leading to multiple hospital admissions. “It’s had a real benefit for [baby] Kerry-Anne and me, things are getting easier, it was a bit of extra help.”

Dr McLean said rheumatic fever is sometimes described as the disease that casts a long shadow. ”The ongoing consequences are serious. Although initial symptoms of rheumatic fever like swollen joints and fever get better, the heart valves may be damaged and this damage is permanent.”

“Young people who’ve had rheumatic fever need a decade, maybe more, of monthly painful antibiotic injections, to prevent the development of rheumatic heart disease, or to stop it getting worse. Rheumatic heart disease can lead to heart failure, the need for surgery, and for some people, a shorter life.”

Dr McLean said work initially done across this region including the school-based throat swabbing programme, and now the rapid response clinics and Healthy Homes initiative, mean in time it might be possible to rid the region of the disease. However there has already been one case of rheumatic fever recorded for 2016 – a reminder that families and health staff cannot afford to be complacent. “Sore throats matter!” says Dr McLean.

Parents and caregivers are reminded that if your child has a sore throat and especially if your family is Māori or Pacific, you need to take them to a doctor, nurse or community worker and get a throat swab.

Turanga Health is blitzing exercise boredom by adding a heritage focus to its exercise programme walks and runs.

Gisborne’s new cycle and walkways have inspired the Turanga Health Heritage Trials and this week Three Rivers Medical GPs, nurses and administration staff experienced the unique way of exercising. “It was a gentle introduction to physical exercise without knowing you’re actually doing it!” says Dr Tom James, who often refers patients to Turanga Health.

Turanga Health chief executive Reweti Ropiha says the issue for many people wanting to exercise is that “it can be a challenge staying enthusiastic. Sometimes just pulling on your shoes is the hardest thing”.

To improve uptake and keep whānau (clients) motivated and interested, Turanga Health has incorporated a heritage focus to its walks, runs, and outside exercise sessions. “We want our whānau to want to come back, and this is just one way to do that,” says Mr Ropiha.

The walks, runs and exercise sessions take in all or some of the following locations: Kaiti Hill, Oneroa Walkway, Wi Pere Monument, the Hirini St Cemetery, and each of the three rivers: Turanganui, Waimata and Taruhera.Five Turanga Health physical activity kaiāwhina have received education in the history and heritage of the area including the geography, voyaging history, social history, and flora and fauna.

Physical activity kaiāwhina Albert Tibble, who took last night’s Heritage Trail, says it is important local GPs referring patients to Turanga Health’s wraparound services know and understand what’s on offer. “That way they might be more likely to refer. It’s about relationship building with the GPs, and sharing with them the nature of the services we offer here at Turanga Health”.

Turanga Health’s services complement care and treatment patients receive from their general practice. Its wraparound services include health and fitness programmes for whānau each targeting a different group - whether it be people with diabetes, or mums with babies wanting to get back into exercise.

Dr James said this type of activity is a really great option for spending time away from TV and computer screens. “Albert shared lots of historical and cultural factoids along the way. I didn’t know for example, that the Te Poho-o-Rawiri Marae had been on two previous sites.”

Three Rivers Medical Operations Manager Lisa Hamblin said “it was a treat to actually take the time to really look at, and appreciate, the beauty of our area with the added bonus of a knowledgeable narrator.”

Earlier this week Ilminster Intermediate School teachers took part in a Turanga Health Heritage Trail. Turanga Health works in a number of local schools and in time wants to share the heritage trail walks, runs and exercise sessions with more school-aged children.

Thirty cigarettes a day, maybe more in the weekend, was a standard day of smoking for 40-year-old Kane Akurangi (Ngati Porou, Ngati Kahungunu) of Gisborne.

The Senior IT Technician was having a cigarette every half hour he was awake, and it was costing him about $30 a day, $210 a week, $10,920 a year.

Kane says those figures didn’t worry him at the time. “I was a typical Māori male. I didn’t care at all. Even when he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and a thyroid disorder in February 2015, he didn’t change his cavalier attitude to life. “I thought bugger it. I will die happy doing what I want to do.”

But then a friend, younger than Kane, was also given a short sharp wake-up call about his health and Kane’s way of thinking began to change. “I saw the transition he was going through, and he was losing weight, and getting healthy, and the penny began to drop.”

Not long after, this father of four and Child Youth and Family in-home transitional carer of six, took part in a WERO Challenge. WERO is about teams of people quitting smoking together rather than individuals trying to go it alone. It was developed by the University of Auckland in a bid to help Māori and Pacific people quit smoking (though anyone can take part). Participants are supported by health practitioners and are tested each week with a smokerlyzer.

Kane said yes to being in a whānau and friends group. Registration involved signing up to a smokefree programme like the one offered at Tūranga Health in Tairāwhiti. It also involved adding one special member to the team – the coach. This person had to be a non-smoker and someone who would support his or her smoking team members 100 percent in their smokefree quest. For Kane, this person happened to be his wife and number one supporter, Maida. “She has been amazing. She was the coach and the hero and I couldn’t have done it without her.”

Every week Kane and the rest of the group were committed to their WERO meeting with Tūranga Health smoking cessation coaches. As well as education, support, and smokefree patches and lozenges if they wanted, group members had to blow into the smokerlyzer machine which would reveal if they have any carbon monoxide on their breath. It was this regular catch up that kept Kane on the straight and narrow.

“I had tried to quit smoking before by myself but this was different. Having to go every week was good for me. I would put it into all my diaries and I knew I had to be there, Tuesday, 3pm, no excuses.”

Tūranga Health’s smoking cessation programme is Aukati Kaipapa. Rather than going cold turkey the smoking cessation coaches Christine Nepia and Mere Waihi developed a plan with Kane to help him reduce his smoking and achieve a target quit date.

Kane remembers the first time he chose NOT to have a cigarette. He was driving to Ruatoria for work and normally he’d reach for a cigarette as soon as he got into the car. This time, with the words of his quit coach ringing in his ears and the united quit group behind him, he held off for as long as he could. He got to Tokomaru Bay before he succumbed. “I was bursting at the seams” he remembers, but it was the first step towards cutting down.

Slowly but surely the cigarettes he smokes has reduced every week. Six months on he has one cigarette a week. He admits it’s an odd number of cigarettes to have, and he doesn’t really know why he is still having it, but it won’t be for much longer.

As well as a smokefree journey, Kane has also taken more interest in his fitness and set himself a goal of dropping to 100kg which he has just achieved. He joined a social fitness group called Mekefit and hit Kaiti Hill and the Oneroa Walkway as often as he could.

With the help of friends, whānau, and Tūranga Health, Kane can’t believe the transformation he has gone through. He says Tūranga Health was “100 percent” important to him.“They motivated me. They always did what they said they would. They pushed me to come back to the sessions and it’s what I needed.”

“My whole mindset has changed. I am inspired to finish things. You have got to get your mind right and then set a target. It’s about taking one step at the time and surrounding yourself with support.”

Some patients at a rural Gisborne medical centre hesitate when they see St John intensive care paramedic Jackie Clapperton in her distinctive dark green uniform. She’s standing where their GP normally stands indicating they can take a seat and tell her why they’ve come!

“But once I introduce myself and explain that I can help them just like a GP can, they relax. I think the public has come to know and trust the St John green strip for medical emergencies and care, and they know I am a professional.”

Jackie is widely known around Gisborne as a dedicated, brave and extremely professional ambulance paramedic. She’s been dangled out of helicopters, provided life saving care in people’s homes and in remote bush settings, and attended some of the worst car crashes imaginable.

But she is also a nurse practitioner – a nurse who has completed years of advanced education so she can provide a wide range of assessment and treatment, and prescribe medication. Jackie is the only St John intensive care paramedic/nurse practitioner in the country and now she is breaking new ground at the tiny medical centre in Te Karaka owned by Turanga Health.

“Jackie is the first nurse practitioner we’ve employed to back fill a GP on leave,” says Turanga Health Reweti Ropiha. “Our general practice is just over 30km from Gisborne and it’s getting harder and harder to staff when key staff are away. This is the first time we’ve thought to use a nurse practitioner. It’s a huge step forward for seamless provision of healthcare in a rural setting.”

Jackie is working at the clinic for just over a fortnight and was thrilled to take on the role. “I have to admit I jumped for joy when the opportunity arose” says Jackie. I’ve been lucky enough to integrate my nurse practitioner role into what I do at St John, but I didn’t expect to ever be working at a rural general practice, she adds.

As a St John intensive care paramedic Jackie works at the highest level for the ambulance service and is a specialist in critical care and clinical judgement, with a proven ability to manage complex patients. After seven years as an emergency department nurse, and 15 years in the ambulance service, she is capable of delivering a wide range of medicines, advanced airway management, and a number of invasive skills.

Jackie says she took on the challenge of qualifying as a nurse practitioner because someone told her she wouldn’t be able to do it. “That fired me up. I am not an academic, but I am good at practical things, I am good at forward thinking, planning the next step, joining the dots during an emergency situation, and so I kept on doing the papers and reaching the next step”.

The 44-year-old mother and grandmother says she received lots of help along the way and in her new short term role at Te Karaka she is surrounded by a supportive medical fraternity. Senior nurses at the clinic are integral to helping care for each patient; Gisborne Hospital staff know her well and recognise her right to prescribe and order tests and imaging; and now radiology staff in the district, whom she is new to, are also supporting her.

In Gisborne, large general practice Three Rivers Medical is on hand to answer any questions Jackie may have. “I have contacted them a couple of times just to confirm that what I am thinking is correct.”

Three Rivers Medical GP Fergus Aitcheson mentored Jackie’s drug management and prescribing during her nurse practitioner training and is thrilled she has the chance to work in the Turanga Health medical centre.“Her patient assessment skills are very sound and I think it’s an ideal situation out at Te Karaka.”

He says Three Rivers Medical has a long standing relationship with Turanga Health and this, as well as his mentoring relationship with Jackie, means he’s happy to be at the end of the phone should Jackie need.

“I have always thought that any new prescriber, be it junior doctor or nurse practitioner, should have the ability to easily refer to an experienced prescriber when starting out because drug prescribing has pitfalls which can be hazardous. But in this situation, I wouldn’t expect the reason I hear from her to be anything more than a nuance of drug management or test interpretation.”

Dr Aitcheson says it is in everyone’s best interest for each part of the health system to support the other.

Nurse Practitioner New Zealand chair Jane Jeffcoat says what’s happening in Te Karaka is a sign of the “maturity” of the health environment whereby nothing is the sole domain of one type of practitioner. “You’ll find that most people working in health prefer working collaboratively in order to achieve the best health outcome for the patient”.

Ms Jeffcoat says Turanga Health should be applauded for its decision to contract a nurse practitioner to cover for staff away on leave. It may be a unique situation for Turanga Health but there has never been any reason that a general practice team can’t be made up of either a general practitioner and/or a nurse practitioner along with registered nurses and other health professionals. Of the 150 nurse practitioners currently working in New Zealand, about a third of them are working in primary health. However Ms Jeffcoat says nurse practitioners in some places continue to be underutilised in what they can do.

“The nurses are working to their capacity and they can provide a service just as well as the GPs can, within their knowledge and boundaries."

St John Central Region General Manager Dr Sharon Kletchko says Jackie has worked to develop valuable relationships with local health providers and community leaders, ensuring that care and support is available to people in need.

“The role of nurse practitioner provides a vital link between St John and local communities in Gisborne and surrounding areas. St John is pleased with what the role of nurse practitioner has achieved in a relatively short period of time and looks forward to its ongoing evolution.”

Back in Te Karaka Jackie has just helped a mum whose young child who presented with a rash consistent with shingles. After confirming this diagnosis with the help of a GP at Three Rivers Medical and a photograph, Jackie prescribed the appropriate medicines.She is loving the job and is gaining more experience and knowledge every day. “It’s a lovely environment to work in and it matches my goals which have always been to make the patient experience fluid and seamless whether first contact be in an ambulance or in a general practice.”

In a first for Turanga Health, its Te Karaka medical centre has nurse practitioner Jackie Clapperton filling in for Dr Mark Devcich while he is away on leave.

Jackie is widely known on the East Coast as a dedicated, brave and extremely professional St John ambulance intensive care paramedic.

But she is also a nurse practitioner – a nurse who has completed years of advanced education so she can provide a wide range of assessment and treatment, and prescribe medication. Jackie is the only St John intensive care paramedic/nurse practitioner in the country and now she is breaking new ground at the tiny medical centre in Te Karaka owned by Turanga Health.

Jackie, who wears her distinctive dark green St John uniform while at work in Te Karaka, will be working in the clinic for the rest of the month.

A more in-depth article on Jackie, her background, and comment from those who have supported her during her training, is coming soon.

Seventeen Gisborne GPs now have a better understanding how the Treaty of Waitangi affects their work after spending a unique evening with Māori health provider Turanga Health.

The Tuesday evening training which began with a shared meal and ended with a bus tour, covered critical issues relevant to the Treaty of Waitangi, it’s historical, and contemporary, context. The focus was on analysis and interpretation of the way in which the Treaty can be applied to contemporary health situations.

GPs who attended all work at medical centres that are part of Midlands Health Network (MHN). MHN provides doctors, nurses, and other health staff in this district with tools they need to get the best health outcomes for patients. Turanga Health is part of MHN.

For one Gisborne GP, Simon Spenceley from Three Rivers Medical, the experience was distinctive. He described it as “an informative and enjoyable meeting illustrating the history and diverse interpretations of the Treaty.”

It was the first time Turanga Health has offered the training on behalf of MHN, and Turanga Health CEO Reweti Ropiha says it’s something they’ve wanted to do for a long time.

“It was important to us as a partner in MHN that the local perspective of the Treaty be front and centre. The Treaty provides a framework for Māori and non-Māori to exercise control over their health and wellbeing. The key parts we wanted to address last night were understanding the Treaty, and addressing inequities in health care.”

Mr Ropiha says it was refreshing to be applying the three Ps of the Treaty: partnership, participation and protection, in real time.

“Equally important was sharing some of the history of this region with the GPs. And that’s why we took them on a bus tour,” adds Mr Ropiha.

GPs took a short bus tour up over Kaiti Hill. The trip was narrated by Ripeka Winitana who has an avid interest in local Maori history and tikanga.

Dr Spenceley said the entire evening “was made all the more interesting by the interactive bus trip”.

Turanga Health looks forward to sharing more local Maori history with the GPs later in the year when it showcases a new-look activity programme combining exercise with heritage trails and information for participants.

Join the revival along with hundreds of secondary school sportsmen and women due in Gisborne next month for the 2015 New Zealand Secondary Schools Ki o Rahi Championship.That’s the call of one of Tairāwhiti’s most passionate Ki o Rahi coaches Rongomai Smith, who says the tournament will be a physical spectacle not to miss. “There’s going to be heaps of touch skills on display, dummies, spins and dives. It’s aspectacle. And it can get quite physical especially with the top teams. “The traditional Māori game of Ki o Rahi, which dates back to pre-European times, has a growing following at school level and last year’s National Tournament in Wellington was the first to be held under the umbrella of the New Zealand Secondary Schools Sports Council (NZSSC).This year the event is in Gisborne at the Rectory Field Friday 10 and Saturday 11 April. A pōhiri on Thursday 9 April will be Te Poho o Rāwiri Marae, Queen’s Drive Kaiti with meetings for team managers and referees to follow.Rongomai Smith is a PE teacher at Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ngā Uri a Māui. He incorporates Ki o Rahi into his lesson as the game draws on core Māori values such as manaakitanga and whanaungatanga. “As well as basic skills like passing and catching I want to teach about communication and working together as one. Ki o Rahi does that.”This year’s national tournament is hosted by Turanga Health.Staff member Shane Luke says last year, the final was between Te Wharekura o Rakaumanga, from Huntly, and a combined Gisborne Boys' and Girls' High team, with Te Wharekura o Rakaumanga narrowly retaining their title.In the playoff for third and fourth place Taita Collage beat Tolaga Bay Area School.“I can’t wait to see the rivalry between those schools play out again. But I’m also keen to see new entrants into the national competition like qualifiersHorouta Wananga and Kawakawa Mai Tawhiti hold their own on the field.” Supporters, fans, and public are invited to watch the action both days at the Rectory Field. Grandstand seating is provided as well as toilets and food. Spectators are encouraged to visit the tertiary education provider expo also at the grounds. EndsWhat: 2015 New Zealand Secondary Schools Ki o Rahi Championship

Media Statement Tuesday 11 November 2014Watched by crisp lettuce and the swirling morning mist LeaderBrand harvesting staff have a new way of starting work – a paddock warm-up preparing their bodies for the day ahead. The ten to15 minute set of exercises and stretches increases blood flow to the working muscles and gives the heart advance notice there’s about to be an increase in activity. Crew members gently start to move major muscle groups and lightly stretch tendons and nerves. “It’s about looking after our staff” says Lettuce Crop Manager Andrew Rosso who oversees harvest crews picking five days a week year round. “The team is working hard with plenty of lifting and bending all day, so the exercises are a proactive approach for keeping our staff injury free.” Mr Rosso says it’s a way to warm up the muscles and the mind. “It’s something different we can offer in addition to the health checks; an ice breaker for the morning where we can have a laugh while prepping for the day.” Harvester Shayne Biddle says the warm-ups are a welcome addition to his working day and a way to reduce the chance of injury. “It’s an opportunity to get our crew fitter and that’s got to be good because then we can work faster,” says the 24-year-old. Fellow harvester Kim Stafford says she has always built stretches into her morning routine at home, so doesn’t mind doing the warm-ups once she gets to work. “I feel good after doing the exercise so I think it’s a really good idea.” Crews learned the paddock-based workouts from Turanga Health fitness instructor Stephanie Broughton who has led exercise programs in some unusual places but never amongst lettuce. “Warming up before physical work should be as normal as warming up before playing sport or exercising. It reduces the chance of soft tissue injuries to things like your ligaments, tendons, and muscles by allowing your muscles and joints to move through a greater range of motion easily and safely.” Stephanie joined the crew for the early morning work-outs over a number of days making sure each exercise was performed correctly. Armed with enough information the crew now does the warm-ups and warm-downs by themselves. Mr Rosso said warm-up exercises may seem unconventional to some staff but keeping them safe is a priority and it will quickly become the norm. “New staff joining our crews won’t know any difference. It will be standard before-work and after-work practice.” The early morning exercise routines follow LeaderBrand’s adoption of Turanga Health’s Workplace Wellness Tū Mahi programme. Turanga Health nurses and kaiāwhina visit LeaderBrand staff and carry out health checks in a state-of-the-art mobile clinic. Nurses look at age, gender, ethnicity, weight, family history, blood pressure, glucose and cholesterol levels, and diabetic and smoking status. Each person’s risk of developing heart problems in the next five years is assessed. Where appropriate some people are directed to see their GP and others are referred to Turanga Health’s smoking cessation kaiāwhina. Turanga Health visited the lettuce crew most recently while they picked lettuce in O’Grady’s Road. Of the 44 LeaderBrand staff seen that morning four were referred to their GP for follow up and 11 were registered with a smoking cessation programme. Ends For more information contact: Gordon McPhail, LeaderBrand Farm Manager, 867 3863 or Dallas Poi, Project Manager, Turanga Health, (06) 869 0457. Image Captions: Image 1: Stephanie Broughton from Turanga Health corrects Shayne Biddle’s stretching technique during an early morning warm-up. Image 2: Turanga Health’s Stephanie Broughton and LeaderBrand Harvester Shayne Biddle. Image Credit: Brennan Thomas, Strike Photography.

Media Release Tuesday 5 August, 2014New Maori Sports Tournament launchedWith the Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2014 wrapped up, Gisborne Year 7 and 8 rangatahi now have their own unique sporting tournament to look forward to! It’s the first time a Tākaro Tawhito Traditional Maori Games Tournament has been held in the district and games on offer include well known Ki-o-Rahi and the lesser known Horohopu and Tapu Ae. Turanga Health has created the event as part of its ongoing work to increase physical activity amongst rangatahi. It’s the first time Turanga Health has managed three different Tākaro Tawhito at one tournament. “We’ve taken some new, but old, games to local schools and taught the rangatahi (youth) and teachers how to play,” says Population Health Kaiāwhina Shane Luke. “The interest has been phenomenal and it made sense to end the module with a tournament where the tauira (students) can test their skills against other kura (schools).” For nearly a century, traditional Māori games have been abandoned in favour of popular European games such as rugby, cricket and netball. But games like Tapu Ae, Ki-o-Rahi and Horohopu are making a comeback. Revival of the games was assisted by the 2009 creation of Rangatahi Tu Rangatira or R2R, a Wellington-based Māori health organisation specializing in using Maori games as an activator for youth. Horohopu is a game where rangatahi get to whirl a distance throwing poi called Poi Toa like a slingshot above their heads. “Kids love the distance throwing aspect of the game” says Shane. Tapu Ae is a large team game with attackers, defenders and lots of tackling or ripping depending on the age of the participants. Turanga Health taught the games to rangatahi from Muriwai, Manutuke, Patutahi, Matawai, and Whatatutu Schools as well as Te Karaka Area School and Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ngā Uri a Maui. They will all have teams at the tournament which is expected to attract over 200 students. Turanga Health is using the tournament to promote Rheumatic Fever prevention. Participants and parents are are reminded that if a child has a sore throat and especially if the family is Māori or Pacific, they need to be taken to a doctor, nurse or community worker and get a throat swab. Children and young people are the most likely to get rheumatic fever. It occurs after a ‘strep throat’ – a throat infection caused by Group A Streptococcus (GAS) bacteria. The Year 7 and 8 Tākaro Tawhito Māori Games Tournament will be Tuesday 12 August 2014, at Te Kuri a Tuatai Marae, 307 Lytton Road, starting with karakia at 9am. Ends For more information contact: Dallas Poi, Turanga Health (06) 869 0457

Media Statement Friday 25 July 2014Rural Health Services Unaffected Despite Sale of Buildings Turanga Health’s general practice and rural health services will continue despite potential changes to who owns the Te Karaka and Matawai health buildings, says Turanga Health Chief Executive Reweti Ropiha. “Changes in who owns the bricks and mortar do not necessitate any changes in the level of service we offer patients in Matawai and Te Karaka. Patients will still be able to see the doctor and the nurse in their own communities”. Mr Ropiha’s comments came after an announcement from current building owners, Tairawhiti District Health, that it intends to sell the buildings Turanga Health currently operates out of. Since 2010 Turanga Health has rented a house on Rangatira Road, and the Waikohu Health Centre on Station Road in Te Karaka, from Tairawhiti District Health. Turanga Health has maintained the Rangatira Road house but no doctor has lived there since 2010. Turanga Health spent around $20,000 refurbishing the Waikohu Health Centre in 2011 creating more space for patient consultations, a smart welcoming waiting room and reception area, and better office and meeting space for health staff. Mr Ropiha said it was likely any new owner of the Waikohu Health Centre building would continue to want Turanga Health as tenants. Mr Ropiha says Turanga Health is owned by local iwi and its services are community-based and patient-directed. “We are intertwined with the community and as a result influenced by the community. There is no change in everyone’s dedication to this service.” Turanga Health also rents a main road house in Matawai. There is no one currently living in the house. Once a week the visiting Waikohu Health Centre doctor, and or nurses, use the small clinic room on the roadside of the house to see patients. Mr Ropiha says more often now Piki Te Ora, Turanga Health’s state-of-the-art mobile clinic, is used to manage patient clinics. Cervical screening, influenza vaccination, and diabetes clinics are also done in the clinic which is known locally as ‘the bus’. “The bus is a contemporary clinic which features all the technology and equipment you would expect to find in a static clinic. It’s warm, offers privacy for consultations, and is cleverly compact.” Mr Ropiha says there is no reason the bus couldn’t be used for the normal weekly rural clinics. There is also an opportunity for Turanga Health to invest in an existing community facility. “Turanga Health is interested to see if there is an appetite in the Matawai community for us to help add value to an existing setting”. Ends For more information contact: Reweti Ropiha, Turanga Health Chief Executive, (06) 869 0457.